'I had to go on stage during the penalty shootout in Istanbul...'

Every Liverpool fan remembers exactly where they were on May 25, 2005 - the night the Reds clinched a fifth European Cup after one of the greatest cup finals ever contested.

But for some, it is perhaps easier than others.

Take Starsailor frontman James Walsh, who was playing to a packed out crowd at the London Astoria the moment Jerzy Dudek's outstretched palm kept out Andriy Shevchenko's penalty and brought Ol' Big Ears home.

He recalls: "We were looking at all the timings and it was looking perfectly doable – the game would finish just in time for us going on stage.

"Obviously it didn’t quite pan out like that.

"We were sat in a workshop in London Astoria watching the game, with this frantic promoter coming in and saying ‘You’ve got to go on stage, people are booing’ and we’re like ‘Give us a minute!’

"It got to the point where they were taking the penalties and the bloke said, ‘We’re going to get fined’ so we had to go on stage a bit of a way through the penalties.

"The tour manager was writing who scored and who missed on a piece of paper.

"When we won, there was a lad in the front row with a Liverpool flag – he chucked it on stage and I was running round with it at the end of the gig.

"The bass player is a Manchester United fan, so he wasn’t having that at all!"

A native of Chorley, Walsh caught the Reds bug years before that on-stage triumph thanks to an older brother who counted Kenny Dalglish among his heroes.

And, unlike many of his peers, he subsequently resisted the lure of Blackburn Rovers during their rise to prominence during the mid-90s.

Since then, he has keenly followed Liverpool's fortunes - even if being part of a band that regularly tours the world occasionally gets in the way.

He explains: "Doing the music, there’s not a lot of opportunities but I’ll average about 10 games a season home and away. So I still get to as many games as I can.

"Wherever we are in the world, if myself and the drummer know that there’s a Liverpool game on then we’ll be frantically searching the internet for the nearest pub and we’ll duck in there and watch it.

"We’re passionate fans."

Beyond his love of Liverpool Football Club, Walsh also feels a strong affinity with the city that gave it its name.

The influence of Scouse music is evident in Starsailor's post-Britpop sound, but admiration from the band's singer/songwriter runs far deeper than that.

He adds: "I love the spirit and atmosphere in Liverpool.

"And obviously The Beatles are a huge influence on most bands, but also the lesser-known bands; I think Shack are amazing, Michael Head is a bit of a genius.

"It’s a great city, and seeing the consistent triumph over adversity, whether it’s austerity or the tragedy of Hillsborough, how Liverpool always seems to come back stronger.

"It always produces great art, architecture and entertainment, it’s an amazing place. Everyone is always smiling and every night is like Saturday night."

So, as a man who has arguably seen the best of both, which of Walsh's two passions comes first: music or football?

He says: "It’s a tough choice, but I think still music.

"The joy of music is a permanent thing, whereas the joy of football is often confined to the 90 minutes and maybe the day or a few days after, and then you’re onto the next game – with a few exceptions.

"When we win European Cups and things like that, it’s great.

"But during the season, it’s like ‘It was brilliant to beat United or Everton, but now we’ve got Chelsea or Tottenham…’ - music is a bit more consistent.

"[But] scoring a goal in front of the Kop against United would be a bigger buzz than playing the Dog and Duck. Maybe it equates to playing Wembley!